American Libraries Direct. November 11, 2009.

The e-Newsletter of the American Library Association – November 11, 2009.*

Highlights:

Extending the library’s reach
Tom Storey writes: “For 10 years, Brian Mathews has focused his passion for librarianship on students-specifically, how to mesh the student lifestyle with library services. Mathews, assistant university librarian for outreach and academic services at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is one of a growing number in the profession who are taking library services to users, rather than expecting users to come to the library. These professionals want the library to be anywhere and everywhere-particularly in places where it is not expected (such as at the beach).”…

Experts: Copyright law hinders scholarship
Day two of the annual Educause higher-education technology conference in Denver, November 3–6, saw at least two presenters speak out about the unfair application of strict copyright protections to scholarly journals-a practice, they said, that hinders academic endeavors. Stanford law professor and activist Lawrence Lessig said that restrictive copyright laws are “destructive of science and education” because academia has adopted a copyright model that largely mimics that of the entertainment industry….
eSchool News, Nov. 6Libraries: A bridge over the Digital Divide
The Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library consistently ranks as one of the nation’s busiest library systems. In 2008, it ranked 7th in the nation in the volume of materials circulated-with 17.8 million items, mostly print books, checked out by patrons. This September report on “Broadband and the Digital Divide: The New Role of Public Libraries” by the Knight Center of Digital Excellence offers a case study in the library’s pursuit of broadband connectivity, the impact of these efforts in Northeast Ohio, and the potential role CCPL exemplifies for public libraries in bridging the digital divide….
Knight Center of Digital Excellence, June 16101 ways to promote a new blog
David Turnbull writes: “Promoting a new blog can be quite daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. As you might expect, breaking down blog promotion into small, actionable tasks eliminates the mental roadblock you’ve probably experienced when trying to wrap your head around how to get people’s attention. You don’t have to do everything in this list, and some items will have a greater effect then others, but every tactic will at least drive some traffic, and any traffic is better than no traffic.”…
Daily Blog Tips, Nov. 4Twitter joins up with LinkedIn
Allen Blue writes: “LinkedIn is announcing a partnership with Twitter-and some new features. The idea is simple: When you set your status on LinkedIn you can now tweet it as well, amplifying it to your followers and real-time search services like Twitter Search and Bing. And when you tweet, you can send that message to your LinkedIn connections as well, from any Twitter service or tool.” Watch LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman (left) and Twitter cofounder Biz Stone discuss (2:29) the great potential of the integration between their companies….
LinkedIn Blog, Nov. 9; YouTube, Nov. 9Click here to see complete issue of this Newsletter.
________________________ *Thanks to Philip Y. Blue, Senior Law Librarian New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library (New York County) for submitting this information.